Romanian businessman George Copos last week made two decisions, which are going to mark his future.
Copos announced last Thursday he would enter politics, being backed up by the party led by Dan Voiculescu. At the same time, Copos also said he would not sell the electrical engine and equipment producer Ana Imep Pitesti to a US group, a deal that would have amounted to “several tens of millions of euros”.
“On Sunday (October 24 i.e.), I decided to run for Senate on the lists of the PSD-PUR Alliance from the part of the Humanist Party (PUR). I rank second on the list of candidates for Arges, after Nicolae Vacaroiu. Why Arges? I have three businesses in the county, with turnover standing at 50 million euros per year. There are over 6,000 families in this county working for my projects,” George Copos told Ziarul Financiar. He has businesses worth more than 75 million euros in the electrical equipment, hotels, food and entertainment industries, also owning FC Rapid football club.
“Why am I running on behalf of PUR? Because I believe it best represents the interests of businessmen and of small and medium sized enterprises,” said the businessman, who added he took to politics so as to prevent “those unable to write invoices from issuing laws impacting on the business environment”. Political sources say that, in order to make room for Copos, PUR eliminated from the lists Dudu Ionescu, a former Interior minister, who was instead promised an executive position.
Copos and Voiculescu have business ties through Ana Imep, the largest of the companies controlled by George Copos. The Voiculescu family holds a stake in the Pitesti-based company, according to the latest available data. Copos had been in talks to sell Ana Imep for almost two years, but he eventually changed his mind about the sale.
“I decided not to sell Ana Imep, after negotiating its sale for two years. Those who wanted to buy it were Americans, leaders of this industry. It would have been a deal worth several tens of million euros. Why should we sell to foreigners? I thought that we, Romanians, should not give up the fight,” said Copos.
Stock of Ana Imep Pitesti had been traded on Rasdaq Electronic Bourse until this summer, but Copos teamed up with the Voiculescu family to launch a public offering with a view to delisting the company.
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro